What do you think about these changes?
I can see how the first one could, because it will be extremely confusing seeing users using usernames that were previously used by other users.
And now that I think about it, this could be used for impersonation.
Comment has been collapsed.
this could be used for impersonation.
My first thought
Comment has been collapsed.
I think SteamTrades should use the Steam username rather than a site specific username in the first place...
Comment has been collapsed.
Why? The two sites are not related at all, despite being made by the same person.
Edit: Nevermind my inability to read, I though you meant SteamGifts username. Yeah, I think I agree.
Comment has been collapsed.
- It's still possible to block old usernames; you can keep a log of used names without linking to a specific account... but whatever :p
Comment has been collapsed.
That's actually a very good solution to deal with potential impersonation.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah I just posted about it in the changelog thread, hope he'll consider it :)
Comment has been collapsed.
Even disconnected from the actual accounts, usernames still could leak private information.
On the other hand, you could keep a log of username hashes to block them. It would not be possible to recover the original names from the hashes, but it would be easy to check hashes of new usernames against an existing hash list.
Comment has been collapsed.
I won't use these new features myself but some on SG will be very happy to change their SG nick twelve times a year instead of once to cause confusion and so to be dropped from BL while some will be happy to use the nick previously used by another user. ^^
Comment has been collapsed.
to cause confusion and so to be dropped from BL
Can't it just be because you want a change? I really hate this assumption that everyone who wants to constantly change their usernames are doing so for bad reasons.
Comment has been collapsed.
Not everyone does but some sure do as I have seen within my own BL.
Comment has been collapsed.
You really think that people are changing their names to get out of your blacklists? I mean, maybe, but that seems like a stretch to me.
People seem to just be interested in changing their image, not much else. Like when people change their profile pics.
I could be wrong here though.
Comment has been collapsed.
Well, at least speaking from experience, every time I've changed usernames in the past (on all of my social accounts) was because I got bored/tired of my current username and wanted something new or more creative. Not because I wanted a change of image.
Comment has been collapsed.
All I can say is that in nearly 4 years on SG I have seen those within my BL change their SG nick and SG avatar to something completely else, multiple times and this can't all be coincidences. So yes I think that some on SG use this feature and will use it now more to premeditatedly cause confusion so to be dropped from BL or not recognized for previous things like SG comments and specific behavior on the SG forums.
Comment has been collapsed.
Is your blacklist small? (Under 50 or so) If so, then there might be a correlation there, but right now I don't think correlation would necessarily equal causation.
I've seen people changing their names and profile pics a fair few times.
But yeah, some people might've changed everything just to seem like a completely different person, yeah.
Comment has been collapsed.
It's larger but I don't BL for things that can be handled by SGTools like non-activated wins. Also not all are alike on SG. For example (and I have already posted this in my train threads before and after the train ends) some purposely drop their BL so they can enter the train and the giveaways and then when the train ends pull their BL back up again. What I mean with this is that there will be some on SG who will use this new feature to slither away from BL by means of chaos and confusion.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah, I agree. The only disagreement seems to be the ratio of bad/good apples. But overall, there shouldn't be any bad apples and I don't like this change at all.
Comment has been collapsed.
cg admin please add an option to show steamID64 instead of names. if they are so random, then they are useless.
Comment has been collapsed.
^this
Anyway I can't help but feel like these changes are opening the door for new abuses.
Comment has been collapsed.
Not even sure how I feel about this. Been using breadman or some combination of bread in my IGN since the early 2000s, and can't imagine how confusing it would be to people on here who have known me for a decade if I just switched up my name one day to something that has nothing to do with bread.
The world would probably end if such a thing ever happened. -_-
Also I've ran into other breadmen, mainly back in my left4dead days, so I know it's a common name that I definitely don't want to lose on steamgifts. :(
Comment has been collapsed.
Well, that was always possible, though, you just had to wait a whole year to do it.
But if you mean someone else using your username instead of you, yeah, I think that change does more harm than good.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah I'm alright with people changing names, but for obvious reasons not okay with someone being able to use the name I've had on here for close to 5 years, if I ever did change my name. And this sudden change only strengthens my opinion on the matter.
Comment has been collapsed.
NO and No. Don't like either. Confusing enough with names and profiles being changed regularly. Makes it easier to impersonate someone.
Comment has been collapsed.
If only change #2 was implemented, there wouldn't be any room for impersonation, though.
Comment has been collapsed.
One more way to destroy any sort of accountability on both sites.
Comment has been collapsed.
Accountability by whom, though? Because if you broke the rules, then you will be suspended no matter what your username is. If you mean accountability by SG users, then sure, but is that really important?
Comment has been collapsed.
If you mean accountability by SG users, then sure, but is that really important?
It's part of the system of checks and balances.
Comment has been collapsed.
But 30 days is a pretty long time to hold accountability, isn't it? Or do you think that someome who has done something bad must have that held against them for the rest of their lives?
I think the change on SteamTrades is a horrible idea, though. I didn't see any indication in the settings page of the time limit to change your username there. My impression is that you can do it at any point.
Comment has been collapsed.
But 30 days is a pretty long time to hold accountability, isn't it?
For some things it's fine. For others, it's not. And it allows repeated abuse - every 30 days rather than one year.
Comment has been collapsed.
Maybe a good solution to satisfy both those who would like to change their usernames every once in a while without an agenda behind it and those who want accountability would be this:
- If you want to change your username, you have to go through support first.
- Support will then review your suspension history and deny/allow the change based on it.
Would increase the amount of tickets though, so maybe not a good solution after all.
Comment has been collapsed.
Suspension history isn't personal accountability - users don't have access to that, and let's face it, we often see much more (as a group) than support does.
Suspension history is just official accountability.
Comment has been collapsed.
I don't know what the solution is then.
But it's sad that good-standing users should be limited to a feature that they want because it's used in a bad way by other users.
1 year is a really long time to be stuck with a username that you don't want if you regretted changing it.
Comment has been collapsed.
But it's sad that good-standing users should be limited to a feature that they want because it's used in a bad way by other users.
I agree. But it's usually the bad eggs that spoil the basket for the rest of us.
Comment has been collapsed.
Yeah, maybe ST should use the Steam username like someone mentioned below.
Comment has been collapsed.
But 30 days is a pretty long time to hold accountability, isn't it?
One can do that every 30 days without a single day of accountability, by for example changing names, and starting shitposting 29 days later, and change the name afterwards, within a name.
While it's obviously an over the top solution, it's getting a bit weird that at this point one can just delete their comments so not even the staff can read it, and just change the name so even screenshots are useless because can be. Basically if support doesn't find someone red-handed, any consequence can be avoided.
Comment has been collapsed.
Well, but these changes do need to happen, right? I haven't read anything about GDPR, but is cg going overboard with the things that he needs to change?
Comment has been collapsed.
IMHO linking to someone's Steam account from SG is much more personal than a simple username
Edit: Just to clarify - No, I am definitely not advocating getting rid of that feature.
Comment has been collapsed.
I've seen users who broke the rules many many times and still are not banned.
Comment has been collapsed.
So scammers can scam more easily?
Why was this change implemented?
Comment has been collapsed.
We should be locked to one username and one avatar.
Comment has been collapsed.
Once again, thank you GDPR. It's sad the lawmakers had to force such obvious common sense onto those totally irrespectful companies who would sit on personal data forever...
Comment has been collapsed.
This change is useless for me, though. I already went back to revilheart last month when my 12 months expired. I wanted this change 10 months ago. xD
Comment has been collapsed.
aaaww still can't take the username I want, because it is in use by the inactive user :/
EDIT: also I think it is fair to say that cg did this so SG would comply with GDPR
Comment has been collapsed.
Same.
Last Online 2 years ago
Registered 2 years ago
Comments 0
Giveaways Entered 3
Gifts Won 0 ($0.00)
Gifts Sent 0 ($0.00)
Comment has been collapsed.
I FINALLY corrected my mistake and added the "u" :p. Thanks for the heads up!
:)
Comment has been collapsed.
Meh. Using inactive usernames can be good, but both changes do need an username history.
Comment has been collapsed.
Pretty sure since cg is changing all of this because of privacy that he's not going to implement a username history.
ESGST (it's a script) has a feature that tracks usernames of about 9000 users though, so at least it helps a bit.
Comment has been collapsed.
I have an extra letter in my nickname, because what I wanted was previously taken. But I assume, that I still can't change it because that user is just inactive for 5 years now?
Comment has been collapsed.
These changes do not reflect inactivity of users. Unfortunately usernames currently being used by inactive users are still unavailable.
Comment has been collapsed.
Renaming is okay. But the complete eradication of one's previous names should be optional and come with a price.
So if people would want to get rid of their history completely, which is their right, take their CV too. Or maybe 50%? Or two levels?
That certainly would prevent the worst abuse while it still grants the people their GDPR.
Comment has been collapsed.
Even optional wouldn't prevent impersonation.
Suppose you change your username right now to Golwar2, you optionally decide to eradicate your history, someone comes along and changes their username to Golwar with the same avatar as you (and let's say they joined at a similar date as you and have a similar amount of comments as you). How would we be able to tell who's who, since there isn't a username history? One would think you're actually the impersonator by being Golwar2.
I realize this might not be a big problem here, since we're not talking about trades, but still...
Comment has been collapsed.
Impersonation certainly isn't the only problem we will see. And while my suggestion wouldn't solve impersonation, it surely wouldn't do any harm if deleting their history would cost them.
Comment has been collapsed.
Can you list another problem? I can't think of anything other than impersonation that can come by using a username that another user has used.
Well, confusion as well, for sure, but other than that...
Comment has been collapsed.
Ahem, you have been all over this thread and you have only registered impersonation?
Comment has been collapsed.
Yes, I don't think anyone brought up another issue. Maybe I'm just too dumb to see it, but impersonation and confusion are the only problems I can see with the locking change.
Comment has been collapsed.
Oh no... Yeah, this will most definitely be easy to abuse, it's unreal. Plus, it'll make the support's job harder by having people just shitpost for a day or break some other rule, get a warning and then change their name to get a clean slate. This is bad... really bad.
Comment has been collapsed.
Changed my username about 4 months ago and now I can't change it, I still have to wait one year for a new change?
Comment has been collapsed.
Odd, I can't change mine either (and I changed it a month ago). Maybe for those who have changed it in the past 12 months the clock hasn't been reset yet? I don't know.
Comment has been collapsed.
Houston, we have a problem! Someone get in touch with cg please and explain him our problem, thanks! ^^
Comment has been collapsed.
Each update kinda is getting worse and worse. Oh well...
Comment has been collapsed.
Is it? Despite the privacy stuff, many recent updates have been bringing a lot of good things (especially the latest one with comment history on SteamTrades, which I'm hoping will come to SteamGifts as well).
The only recent updates that have been problematic were the deletion of comments/threads and now this.
Comment has been collapsed.
This was just changed today and cg didn't make an announcement about it, but I feel like it's a somewhat major change and deserves its own thread instead of being hidden in the change log.
From the change log:
After all this time suggesting the limit to be reduced, it finally happened! No more having to wait an entire year to change your username.
I still think the most previous username should be logged for at least 31 days though, if you want to go back to your previous username after changing it and regretting that.
And this confirms (as I already suspected) that your previous usernames were locked to your account in the past (some people claimed this was not true).
Also, I don't know if you guys saw the announcement on SteamTrades, but you can now change your username there (and view your comment history).
Comment has been collapsed.